LETHBRIDGE, AB: The Canadian Taxpayers is applauding the savings for Alberta parents during back-to-school shopping because the province doesn’t charge taxpayers a PST.

“Alberta parents are feeling the pinch because everything costs too much, but they’re saving about $50 per family for back-to-school shopping because we don’t have PST here,” said Kris Sims, Alberta Director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. “The federal carbon tax and inflation are driving up prices, but it’s more affordable in Alberta because we don’t pay a provincial sales tax.”

Alberta has more than 800,000 students who are returning to school within the next two weeks.

Parents will spend an average of $790 on back-to-school supplies per student, according to a Deloitte survey.

If Alberta parents spent even half that much, about $350 per student, they are saving about $19.6 million this year. That’s because families aren’t paying a seven per cent PST on things like shoes, clothes, notebooks, backpacks, lunch kits, phones and laptops.

“The provincial sales tax we don’t pay on school tech is really noticeable, since we are saving about $25 on a laptop,” Sims said. “The next time politicians and academics start clamouring for a PST in Alberta, parents should remember how these savings add up.”

Here’s how Alberta’s savings stack up when compared to some other provinces:

British Columbia has a PST of seven per cent. Some school supplies are PST-exempt, however, parents must go through a complicated process to avoid the tax. For example, backpacks carry a PST charge, but “bags specifically designed to carry ‘schoolbooks’” don’t have the tax. Families in B.C. will pay about $50 each, totalling about $15 million in PST on back-to-school supplies this year.

Saskatchewan has a PST of six per cent and it applies to nearly all back-to-school supplies such as pens, shoes, clothes and tech. Rare exceptions exist. For example, Saskatchewan’s sales tax is charged on maps, but not atlases. Saskatchewan shoppers will pay more than $40 per family, totalling about $4 million in PST on back-to-school supplies this year.

Ontario has a sales tax of eight per cent. Some exemptions for children’s clothing and children’s shoes costing less than $30 exist in Ontario, but they are few and the exemption usually needs to be flagged by the shopper. Families in Ontario will pay nearly $60 each, spending about $50 million in PST on back to school supplies this year.

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